EU Poised to Approve Oracle-Sun Deal

The European Commission's approval of Oracle's $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun is imminent. Though EU regulators have until late January to make their decision, sources close to both companies tell me they expect approval this week--perhaps even as early as Wednesday or Thursday. They caution, however, that the EC is nothing if not mercurial; there's always a chance it could fail to reach a quorum, in which case approval will fall closer to the review deadline of January 27.

Either way, the deal is likely to officially close in early February. And when it does, Oracle and Sun will be well prepared. "The integration team have been working very hard to complete all of the planning and executives on both sides of the merger believe that deal will be approved," one source told me. "The majority of the hiring decisions have been made and the bulk of the product decisions and organization structure is completed..."